Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 54. (Miskolc, 2015)
Régészet - Kósa Polett: Meggyasszó-Halom-oldal dűlő: New data int he Tumulus culture research from North-eastern Hungary
194 Polett Kása ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESULTS The anthropological examination was executed by Zsuzsanna K. Zoffmann (K. ZOFFMANN 2015). In the partial cemetery of Megyaszó-Halom-oldal dűlő 10 graves are known, from which the remains of 10 individuals can be determined. However in two cases, some differences can be observed in the distribution of ashes and graves. During the excavation every vessel that contained ashes was collected in situ and carried to the museum, where fine dismantling took place. The ashes were collected separately by layers from each urn. As such, 9 samples were collected from grave SI, 4 samples from grave S2, S7, Sll and S16, 3 samples from grave S17 and only 1 sample from grave S3, S9 and S13. No ashes could be detected in grave S12. The purpose of separate collection of layers was to note, if any kind of manipulation with the ashes could be observable or not (S0RENSEN-REBAY 2007, 120). It was impossible to notice any regularity by the location of skull, limb or other bone pieces, so the ashes were not arranged to reflect the corpus. Every layer contained each type of bone fragment, which concludes that after removing the body of the pyre, people did not place the ashes consciously into the urn, they simply collected and swept the remains to a vessel. In addition, the bone pieces were usually micro and rarely meso fragmented, moderately deformed and uniformly greyish white. This may mean that there is no trace how the body was laid on the pyre, because there is no difference by the degree of burning between the left and right, upper or lower limbs (K. ZOFFMANN 2015,1). It should be noted that in many cases larger bone fragments were detectable among the ashes, which may suggest the pyre’s size or the degree of burning. Thus, the larger the fragments were, the worse the cremation rate or the lower the heat of the bonfire was (R PEARSON 2001, 7). Bronze rings and clay beads were mixed among the ashes and all of them were burned, so they may have been worn by the deceased on the pyre (S0RENSEN- REBAY 2007,120). At grave SI a double burial was identified. It contained the ashes of two Infans I. aged children. One of them could have been around 3—4 years old, the other even younger. Grave Sll and SI3 have also held the remains of Infans I. aged children. Grave S16 is the only male burial, who could have been an adultus. Female burials were documented in 4 cases, in grave S2, S3, S7 and S17. Two individuals could have been adultus and two deceased adultus-maturus aged. The ashes of grave S9 are definitely human remains, but neither the age nor the gender of the individual could be determined. It was not clear during excavation, whether feature S9 was part of a pit or a burial, due to the strongly fragmented ceramics so anthropology clarified that it could have been a badly preserved grave. A not in situ sample was also collected near grave S2. As mechanical excavation has seriously damaged the top of the urn, it is likely that these fragments could have come from the urn and be a part of grave S2. Altogether, it can be stated that all the collected bones are of human origin and there were no animal remains.31 INTERPRETATION OF THE GRAVES The partial burial ground of Megyaszó-Halom-oldal dűlő consists a total of 10 cremation burials and a feature linked to some sort of burial rite. It is difficult to compare the site to other nearby Tumulus cemeteries because the excavated area is rather small and the full extent of the cemetery cannot be determined. It could have either contained a few graves like the adjacent cemeteries of Detek and Halmaj (KEMENCZEI 1968, 166),32 or it could have been large, similarly to the site of Emőd-Istvánmajor (HELLEBRANDT 2004,190).33 The periodization of the site can mainly be based on the ceramic styles and on the coeval cemeteries, not on the few bronze artefacts. Since the grave findings of Emőd-Istvánmajor are unknown, the closest analogous burial sites are Detek and Halmaj. These burial grounds are not only the nearest, but also many analogies can be observed in the funerary rites and the type of inclusions too. The most striking similarities can be noticed on large vessels. Based on the typology above, I.A.2. and I.A.3. types are the most common. According to T. Kemenczei, these forms could have been evolved in the Carpathian Basin by the Tumulus culture, and were later taken over by the Piliny culture that began to decorate them more frequently (TOCIK 1964, XIII. Taf. 4). These types of vessels were usually used as urns, and spread from 31 Comment by Dr. Zsuzsanna K. Zoffmann: “Due to the high degree of fragmentation of the ashes, above described information should be treated with restriction.” 32 Detek contained 19 graves and Halmaj had 16 graves (further graves were destroyed prior to the excavation). 33 Emőd-Istvánmajor consisted of 120 burials.
